Heart of Courage

[Vagrant Raiders]

"Killing you is not in my interest. You are awfully defiant, Miss Ange. You expect death, when there are alternatives..."

At these words, the door opened and the four other Scenes entered the room. Petrucci sat with his arms crossed, while Scene One stood up.

Ange sensed the danger. She sprung to her feet with a punch aimed at one of the men's neck. If it weren't for the decades of training and cardamine-enhanced reflexes, she would have shattered his windpipe. He barely managed to raise his arm to block the punch, but the force of the blow still put him off-balance. Scene Four, the man with the robotic hand, seized Ange's left arm in a iron grip. Ange flung another punch with her right hand, but Scene Five grabbed her arm mid-air. In a practiced manouever, Scenes Four and Five raised Ange's arms above her head from behind, forcing her to her knees in pain. Still struggling, Scene Four placed his heavy boot on her back. Scene Three grabbed her hair and forced her chin upwards, tearing off the filtration mask at the same time. Ange managed to suck in a breath before the mask was removed, she defiantly held fresh air in her lungs. Scene One walked over and reaching into the folds of his cloak, revealed a small black device. Ange shook her head as he attemped to insert the two prongs of the device into her nostrils. He gripped her head to keep it still and forced the prongs in, and activated the device. Small tubes extended from the prongs, and from the sides of the device, locking it in place.

"A moderate dose. Dependent but not enslaved."

Scene One pressed a button on the device. An ominous-sounding hiss resounded through the air. Alcor released its grip on Ange.

---